To prevent a
possible contest for thepapacy,Pope Felix IV, shortly before his
death, had taken the unprecedented step of appointing his ownsuccessorin thepersonof the agedArchdeacon Boniface, his
trusted friend and adviser. When, however on the death ofFelix(Sept. 530)Boniface IIsucceeded him, the great
majority of theRomanpriests— sixty out of
sixty-seven — refused to accept the newpopeandelected in his stead theGreekDioscorus in thebasilicaofConstantine(theLateran) andBonifacein theaula(hall) of the Lateran Palace,
known asbasilica Julii. Fortunately for theRoman Church, theschismwhich followed was but of
short duration, for in less than a month (14 Oct., 530)Dioscorus died and thepresbyterswho hadelectedhim wisely submitted toBoniface. In December, 530,Bonifaceconvened asynodatRomeand issued a decreeanathematizingDioscorus as an intruder.
He at the same time (it is not known by what means) secured the signatures of
the sixtypresbytersto his late rival's
condemnation, andcausedthe document to be
deposited in thearchivesof thechurch. Theanathemaagainst Dioscorus was
however, subsequently removed, and the document burned byPope Agapetus I(535).